


An Unexpected Luxury

by HannaM



Category: Long Live the Queen (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Happy Ending, Marriage of Convenience
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-08
Updated: 2015-04-08
Packaged: 2018-03-21 22:36:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3706465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HannaM/pseuds/HannaM
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some surprises of Queen Elodie's reign turned out to be good ones.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Unexpected Luxury

**Author's Note:**

> prompt: Linley/Elodie: learning how to love - day by day, moment by moment 
> 
> Elodie with maxed out Intrigue and low cruelty

Marrying Linley was a practical consideration at first. Nova required heirs, and Elodie required a consort who she could trust not to conspire against her. That meant someone near to her in age who had enough prestige to grant her some noble allies, but not so much that they had a following of their own.  
  
Among Elodie's limited options, Linley of Kigal was the man she felt most comfortable around, and as the second son he had little to lose in accepting her proposal. An agreement was reached, and the date was set. Nothing sweepingly romantic, but if Elodie had learned anything from her lessons in intrigue it was that romance was a luxury most monarchs could not afford.  
  
Still, Linley was kind, kinder than he had to be. He was perhaps a little overly cautious when it came to Elodie's safety, but considering there had been at least three attempts on her life before Elodie's coronation, she forgave him his anxiety.  
  
That is, until the day that Linley became seriously ill after tasting a confection meant for his wife.  
  
Elodie burst into their bedroom, cousin Charlotte on her heels. " _Linley!_ You are not my taste tester! Don't you know how quickly some of these poisons spread?"  
  
Charlotte knelt beside Linley, healing his blood with her Lumen magic. Slowly he grew less green looking, and smiled. "Nova can spare me."  
  
_"I_ can't spare you!"   
  
Unguarded surprise flashed across her husband's face. "Elodie?"  
  
And in that moment, their marriage began to shift.  
  
Linley usually came with Elodie to court hearings, but seeing how glum he looked afterwards, one day Elodie said, "You know, you don't have to hear petitions if you don't want to. It used to make me depressed too. It's really okay, I'll be fine."  
  
"Are you sure?" But Linley looked relieved.  
  
For her birthday, Linley gave Elodie a squirming puppy with a spot over his eye just like her beloved guard dog who had recently died of old age. In response, Elodie threw her arms around her husband and covered his face with kisses.  
  
After attending services (Fidelius the puppy nudging at her side), Elodie caught sight of Linley crouched in the garden, seriously mediating a dispute between Anciet of Sudbury and his younger cousin, Banion's son.  
  
He would make a good father, Elodie mused.  
  
Fidelius barked, and Linley turned at the sound, grinning. Elodie smiled sheepishly, but his obvious pleasure at being found warmed her heart.  
  
"I didn't think I was going to enjoy being married," Elodie confessed to her husband that evening, in bed. "Almost all the married couples I know are so… twisted. I thought the best I could do was be with someone I considered a friend. But you make me feel like…" The intensity of his gaze made her unaccountably embarrassed. "Like everything's going to be all right. You make me happy."  
  
Linley kissed her forehead. "You make me happy too, Elodie. I've always liked you, even when we were at school. And then I respected you too, for all the difficult decisions you made without resorting to cruelty. I'm so glad that you're my wife."  
  
As they curled up together, Elodie thought that perhaps she might be able to afford a little romance.  
 


End file.
